Cognitive Engagement as a Predictor of Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Biology in Onitsha Education Zone

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)
Volume 7 Issue 1, January-February 2023 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470
@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD52648 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 1 | January-February 2023 Page 133
Cognitive Engagement as a Predictor of Secondary School
Students’ Academic Achievement in Biology in
Onitsha Education Zone
Akachukwe, Ebele Esther; Okoli Josephine Nwanneka
Department of Science Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The study investigated cognitive engagement as a predictor of
secondary school students’ academic achievement in biology. Two
research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The
study adopted the correlation design. The population of the study
comprised 2,461 senior secondary year two (SS2) students offering
Biology in Onitsha Education Zone. The sample for the study was
736 students obtained using multi-staged sampling procedure.
Cognitive Engagement Questionnaire (CEQ) validated by three
experts was used for data collection. The reliability of CEQ was
established using Cronbach Alpha to be 0.84. The students’
achievement scores in Biology for two terms in 2021/2022 academic
session were obtained from the teachers’ score inventory and used for
the study. The data obtained was analyzed using simple and multiple
linear regressions. The findings of the study revealed among others
that 0.7% of the variance in achievement in biology was predicted by
students’ cognitive engagement. Also, achievement scores in Biology
were significantly predicted by students’ cognitive engagement. It
was recommended that teachers should make instructional processes
cognitively engaging for the students giving them in-class biology
exercises and take-home learning projects and inquiries as well as
providing them with scaffolds that can be withdrawn to incite active
cognitive processing during learning.
KEYWORDS: cognitive-engagement, achievement, biology predictor
How to cite this paper: Akachukwe,
Ebele Esther | Okoli Josephine
Nwanneka "Cognitive Engagement as a
Predictor of Secondary School Students’
Academic Achievement in Biology in
Onitsha Education Zone" Published in
International
Journal of Trend in
Scientific Research
and Development
(ijtsrd), ISSN:
2456-6470,
Volume-7 | Issue-1,
February 2023,
pp.133-138, URL:
www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd52648.pdf
Copyright © 2023 by author (s) and
International Journal of Trend in
Scientific Research and Development
Journal. This is an
Open Access article
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terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
INTRODUCTION
Science generates solutions for problems of everyday
life and helps to provide answers to the great
mysteries of the universe. Since it is one of the most
important channels of knowledge, basic knowledge of
science is mandatory for everybody as it makes life
easier. This is why science, technology and
innovation drive every nation’s pursuit of more
equitable and sustainable development. One of the
science subjects studied at the secondary level of
education aside chemistry and physics is Biology.
Biology is one of the most popular science subjects
offered by secondary school students in science and
non-science discipline and has also been used as a
criteria for admission into university education in
Nigeria. This notwithstanding, students’ achievement
has not improved as expected despite the research
studies to improve on the implicated factors. Little or
no attention has been given to the cognitive
engagements in biology and how it influences their
achievement in the subject. There is therefore the
need to examine other factors relating especially to
the students such as cognitive engagement that could
predict students’ achievement in Biology.
Cognitive engagement has been shown in literature to
predict achievement; however, most studies on
cognitive engagement focused on students in the
university and little or no studies have been
conducted on the prediction of achievement in
Biology at the secondary level of education. Most of
such studies to were not conducted in Anambra state
secondary schools in the subject area of Biology. The
results of the studies are mixed and the studies have
not been conducted widely among secondary school
Biology students in Anambra state. It is also not
known how cognitive engagement interacts to predict
students’ achievement in Biology in its dimensions.
IJTSRD52648

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
The problem of the study is therefore to unravel and
change the poor understanding into how cognitive
engagement predicts or influences students’
achievement in biology.
Student engagement refers to the degree of attention,
curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students
show when they are learning or being taught, which
extends to the level of motivation they have to learn
and progress in their education (Eric, Peter, Aloka
and Benson, 2018). Eric et al. noted further that
cognitive engagement is the extent to which students'
are willing and able to take on the learning task at
hand. This includes the amount of effort students are
willing to invest in working on the task, and how long
they persist. Activities that can describe cognitive
engagement include making mind maps,
visualisation, association, mnemonics, using clues in
reading comprehension, underlining key words,
scanning and self-testing and monitoring. For the
purpose of this study, the following dimensions of
cognitive engagement will be discussed: interactive
engagement, active engagement, constructive note-
taking and passive engagement. These dimensions of
cognitive engagement were extensively described by
Shane (2019).
According to Shane (2019), interactive engagement
or interactivity with peers references a dialogue
between two students in which they add further
definition to a course construct via an equally-
participatory conversation. Interactively engaged
students co-create knowledge. Active engagement as
described by Shane (2019) entails focused attention
and a basic level of information manipulation (that is
underlining or highlighting) and is measure in two
dimensions: Active note-taking and active processing.
Active note-taking is related to overt activities during
note-taking that are indicative of an underlying
cognitive state. Shane (2019) further noted that active
processing is directly related to students’ reports on
their own cognition, highlights the focused attention
component. Constructively note-taking involves
generating knowledge beyond that which is presented
to them in a subject. Passive engagement is an
orientation towards and receiving from the subject
content. Cognitive engagement is also known to
predict achievement.
The cognitive engagement of a student plays
therefore a significant role in their academic
achievement. The needed arises that a study be
conducted to determine whether the variations in
cognitive engagement could predict achievement in
biology. Most studies like those of Mariam, Alireza,
Elaheh and Hamidreza (2011), Nagarajah, Chung,
Rahmah and Lim (2016) and Ohamobi and Ezeaku
(2016) on cognitive engagement were conducted in
different subject areas using students at different level
of education. The results of the studies are mixed and
the studies have not been conducted widely among
secondary school Biology students in Anambra state.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to investigate cognitive
engagement as a predictor of secondary school
students’ academic achievement in Biology in
Onitsha Education Zone. Specifically, the study
determined the:
1. Predictive power of students’ cognitive
engagement on achievement scores in Biology.
2. Relative contribution of the dimensions of
cognitive engagement (interactivity with peers,
constructive note-taking, active note-taking,
active processing and passive processing) to the
prediction of students’ achievement scores in
Biology.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:
1. What is the predictive power of students’
cognitive engagement scores on achievement
scores in Biology?
2. What are the contributions of the dimensions of
cognitive engagement (interactivity with peers,
constructive note-taking, active note-taking,
active processing and passive processing) to the
students’ achievement scores in Biology?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05
level of significance:
1. Students’ cognitive engagement is not a
significant predictor of their academic
achievement scores in Biology.
2. The contributions of the dimensions of cognitive
engagement (interactivity with peers, constructive
note-taking, active note-taking, active processing
and passive processing) to the students’ academic
achievement scores in Biology are not significant.
Method
The study adopted the correlation design. The area of
the study was Onitsha Education Zone of Anambra
state which is one of the six education zones in the
state. The population of the study was 2,461 senior
secondary year two (SS2) students offering Biology
in Onitsha Education Zone. The sample for the study
is 736 SS2 students offering Biology. The sample was
obtained using a multi-stage sampling procedure.
The instrument for data collection was Cognitive
Engagement Questionnaire (CEQ). CEQ was adopted
from Shane, (2019) who developed the instrument to
measure students’ cognitive engagement. CEQ is an
eighteen item instrument which has five dimensions
namely: interactivity with peers, constructive note-

taking, active note-taking, active processing and
passive processing. Interactive Engagement or
Interactivity with Peers references to a dialogue
between two students in which they add further
definition to a course construct via an equally-
participatory conversation. Interactively Engaged
students will co-create knowledge. Constructively
note-taking involved generating knowledge beyond
that which is presented to them in a subject. Active
Engagement requires focused attention and a basic
level of information manipulation (i.e. underlining or
highlighting) and was measured in two dimensions:
Active note-taking and active processing. Active
note-taking is related to overt activities during note-
taking that are indicative of an underlying cognitive
state. Active Processing is directly related to students’
reports on their own cognition, highlights the focused
attention component. Passive Engagement is an
orientation towards and receiving from the subject
content. CEQ was designed on a four-point scale of
strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree.
Students’ achievement for two terms was obtained
from the schools’ Biology Score folder which is an
inventory book where the Biology teachers record the
students’ academic achievement in Biology each
term. The objectives of the study, research questions
and hypotheses, CEQ were given to three lecturers in
Departments of Science Education and Educational
Foundations, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, for
validation.
The validators will be required to vet the items in
terms of clarity, plausibility of distractors and
suitability for the level of students under study. Their
corrections, suggestions and recommendations were
effected in the instrument. The reliability of CEQ was
established using Cronbach Alpha. The instrument
was also administered to the same 40 students used
for DAT. The coefficient of internal consistency
obtained for CEQ was 0.84. The instruments were
administered with the aid of eight research assistants
who were briefed about the study and how to
administer and collect data using the instruments.
Data generated from the study was analysed using
simple linear and multiple regressions. The R-value
was used to determine the magnitude and direction of
relationship while the R-square value was used to
determine the variance in achievement that is caused
by the predictor variables. The prediction powers and
relative contribution was determined using the beta
coefficients. The null hypotheses were tested at 0.05
level of significance. In taking decision: whenever
Pvalue is less than or equals 0.05 (P≤0.05) the null
hypothesis was rejected and was accepted whenever
Pvalue is greater than 0.05 (P>0.05).
Results
Research Question 1: What is the predictive power of students’ cognitive engagement scores on achievement
scores in Biology?
Table 1: Prediction of Students’ Achievement in Biology by Cognitive Engagement
Model R R2
Adjusted R2 Unstandardized
coefficients (b)
Std.
Error
Decision
Constant
.082a
.007 .005
53.446
12.802
Low positive
relationship
Cogn. Eng. .272
a. Predictors: (Constant), cognitive engagement
Table 1 shows a low positive relationship (R = 0.082) exists between students’ cognitive engagement and their
achievement in biology. The R-Square value of 0.007 indicates that 0.7% of the variance in biology scores is
predicted by cognitive engagement.
Research Question 2: What are the contributions of the dimensions of cognitive engagement (interactivity with
peers, constructive note-taking, active note-taking, active processing and passive processing) to the students’
achievement scores in Biology?
Table 2: Contributions of the Individual Dimensions of Cognitive Engagement in the Prediction of
Achievement Scores in Biology
Model
Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) 51.790 7.304 7.091 .000
Interactivity with Peers .545 .266 .075 2.052 .040
Constructive note-taking .682 .302 .083 2.261 .024
Active note-taking .532 .262 .074 2.029 .043
Active processing -.571 .262 -.081 -2.176 .030
Passive processing .438 .268 .060 1.630 .103
a. Dependent Variable: Biology Achievement

Table 2 shows the standardized beta coefficient which indicates correlation between variables. The
unstandardized beta coefficient which shows the prediction powers of each dimension of cognitive engagement
which indicates their relative contribution to achievement in biology. The table shows that interactivity with
peers has a low positive relationship (R = 0.075) with students’ their achievement in biology, constructive note-
taking has a low positive relationship (R = 0.083) with achievement in biology, active note-taking has a low
positive relationship (R = 0.074) with achievement in biology, active processing has a low positive relationship
(R = 0.081) with achievement in biology while passive processing has a low positive relationship (R = 0.060)
with achievement in biology. Table 2 also reveals that interactivity with peers contribute 0.545 to achievement in
biology whenever a students’ interaction with their peers increase by one unit. With a unit increase, constructive
note-taking increases achievement in biology by 0.682, active note-taking by 0.532, active process by 0.571
while passive processing increases achievement by 0.438. The order of relative contribution to achievement in
biology from the highest to lowest by each dimension of cognitive engagement is; constructive note-taking
(0.682), followed by active processing (0.571), interactivity with peers (0.545), active note-taking (0.532) and
then passive processing (0.438).
Hypothesis 1: Students’ cognitive engagement is not a significant predictor of their academic achievement
scores in Biology.
Table 3: ANOVA on Significance of Prediction of Achievement in Biology by Students’ Cognitive
Engagement
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression 820.598 1 820.598 5.007 .026b
Residual 120303.118 734 163.901
Total 121123.716 735
a. Dependent Variable: Achievement
b. Predictors: (Constant), Cognitive Engagement
Table 3 shows that cognitive engagement is a significant predictor of achievement scores in biology F (1, 734) =
5.007, P (0.026) < 0.05. The null hypothesis was therefore rejected implying that cognitive engagement is a
significant predictor of secondary school students’ achievement scores in Biology.
Since cognitive engagement is a significant predictor of achievement scores in biology, the regression model
(Y= a + bX) for the prediction of achievement score in biology as derived from Table 1, where constant =
53.446 and b value = 0.272 is:
BI = 53.446 + 0.272(CG)
Where, BI = Biology Achievement and CG = Cognitive Engagement
Hypothesis 2: The contributions of the dimensions of cognitive engagement (interactivity with peers,
constructive note-taking, active note-taking, active processing and passive processing) to the students’ academic
achievement scores in Biology are not significant.
Table 4: ANOVA on Significance of Prediction of Achievement in Biology by the Individual
Dimensions of Cognitive Engagement
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression 3192.790 5 638.558 3.953 .002b
Residual 117930.926 730 161.549
Total 121123.716 735
a. Dependent Variable: Biology Achievement
b. Predictors: (Constant), Passive processing, Interactivity with Peers, Active note-taking,
Constructive note-taking, Active processing
Table 4 shows that all the individual dimension of cognitive engagement jointly predicted the students’
achievement scores in biology significantly F (1, 730) = 3.953, P (0.002) < 0.05. However, data contained in
Table 4 shows the significance of the contributions of the individual dimensions of cognitive engagement to the
prediction of achievement scores in biology.
Table 4 shows that interactivity with peers is a significant predictor of achievement scores in biology, t = 2.052,
P (0.040) < 0.05, constructive note-taking is a significant predictor of achievement scores in biology, t = 2.261, P
(0.024) < 0.05, active note-taking is a significant predictor of achievement scores in biology, t = 2.029, P (0.043)

< 0.05, active processing is a significant predictor of achievement scores in biology, t = 2.176, P (0.030) < 0.05
while passive processing is not a significant predictor of achievement scores in biology, t = 1.630, P (0.103) >
0.05. Thus, the significant contributors to the achievement of students in biology in order of significance are
constructive note-taking, active processing, interactivity with peers and active note-taking. However, since the
joint prediction of all the dimensions of cognitive engagement in the prediction of achievement score in biology
is significant, the regression model (Y= a + bX1 +cX2 + dX3 + eX4 + fX5) for the prediction of achievement
score in biology as can be derived from Table 2, where constant = 51.790 and b value = 0.545, c value = 0.682, d
value = 0.530, e value = 0.571, f value = 0.438 is:
BI = 51.790+ 0.545(IWP) + 0.682(CNT) + 0.530(ANT) + 0.571(AP) + 0.438(PP)
Where, BI = Biology Achievement and IWP = interactivity with peers, CNT = constructive note-taking, ANT =
active note-taking, AP = active processing, PP = passive processing
Discussion
The study showed that cognitive engagement has a
low positive relationship with achievement, and
significantly predicts 0.7% of students’ achievement
score in biology. The only significant contributors to
the achievement of students in biology in order of
significance are interactivity with peers, constructive
note-taking, active note-taking and active processing.
Cognitive engagement is necessary for what a student
in thinking in the classroom and the extent of
distraction they entertain. The result of the study
shows that it is important for students to be thinking
about the contents, lesson or activities relating to
biology during the learning process, if they must
attain high achievement in biology. Again, a student
may be emotionally and behavioural engaged, but
lack of cognitive engagement may lead to poor
understanding of learning materials and in turn result
in poor academic achievement.
The idea of being cognitively engaged in the learning
process explains how much a student can be
autonomous because of high self-regulation arising
from proper conceptualization of what is taught. At
such time, a student is able to search for more
information and listen attentively to lesson which
facilitates their engagement initiative for every other
lesson. This further explains why interactivity with
peers significantly predicted biology achievement.
Students who are cognitively engaged through
interaction with each other co-create knowledge and
improve retention because there is understanding, not
just mere rote learning.
The understanding garnered from active interaction
with others lead to constructive note taking. As the
cognitive processes facilitate understanding, students
are more able to write down the lesson materials in
ways most understanding and easily remembered. As
they take constructive notes, they become more active
cognitively and behaviourally as well as emotionally.
Thus, their robust engagement in the learning at such
time incites active note taking which an indication of
the active cognitive processes. To maintain stability
in the active cognitive engagement and learning going
on, students must be actively processing all the
learning experiences.
The findings of the study are in line with Nagarajah,
Chung, Rahmah and Lim (2016) that students with
favourable ratings on their academic engagement in
studies tend to do better academically. The findings
of the study support the finding of Ohamobi and
Ezeaku (2016) that engagement was found to be
significantly correlated with achievement. The
findings of the study related to the findings of Eric,
Peter, Aloka and Benson (2018) that cognitive
engagement was a significant predictor of academic
achievement among secondary school students
studied.
Conclusion
The study concluded that cognitive engagement is
significant predictors of students’ achievement in
Biology. Again, when a student is cognitively
engaged by interacting with peers, actively and
constructively taking notes and actively processing
the learning material, academic achievement in
biology is mostly going to be improved.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made based on
the findings of the study:
1. Effort should be made by biology teachers to
adopt instructional strategies that facilitate
interaction among students and other peers as a
way of developing in them the skills of
interpersonal and intrapersonal communications.
2. Biology teachers should employ group learning
strategies giving students the task of developing
active and constructive notes from their
discussion and to present them in the general
class.
3. Teachers should make instructional processes
cognitively engaging for the students by giving
them in-class biology exercises and take-home
learning projects and inquiries as well as
providing them with scaffolds that can be
withdrawn to incite active cognitive processing
during learning.

References
[1] Eric, W., Peter, J.O. Aloka, & Benson, C.O.
(2018). Relationship between cognitive
engagement and academic achievement among
Keyan secondary school students.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 9(2),
61-72. Doi: 10.2478/mjss-2018-0026.
[2] Maryam, S, Alireza, A., Elaheh, H. &
Hamidreza, H. (2011). Motivation, cognitive
engagement and academic achievement.
Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences, 15,
2406-2410. Doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.117
[3] Nagarajah, L., Chung, H.T., Rahmah, H. &
Lim, T.M. (2016). The relationship between
persistence, academic engagement and
academic achievement among postgraduate
students of OUM. Retrieved from Open-
univesity-malaysia-knowledge-repository.
[4] Ohamobi, I. & Ezeaku, S.N. (2016). Students’
engagement variables as correlates of academic
achievement in economics in senior secondary
schools in Anambra state, Nigeria.
International Journal of Science and Research
(IJSR), 5(5), 473-484.
[5] Shane, A.B. (2019). An investigation of
students’ cognitive engagement in the STEM
classroom- A compilation of faculty and student
perspectives. Unpublished Dissertation, Oregon
State University.

Cognitive Engagement as a Predictor of Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Biology in Onitsha Education Zone

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